BEEF

Wow. Dinner was good and I am FULL. Black and blue salads. Potato pancakes and a special little sauce that I whipped up to put on top (sour cream - fresh garlic - thyme - salt - pepper). Butternut squash soup. Yeah. It was good. I know that my fellow foodies know how much I like blue cheese but I especially like some blue cheese along with some good beef. I stumbled across an awesome marinade that works well when preparing flank steak for beef and broccoli stir fry as well as preparing it for a black and blue salad.

3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons apple juice
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar (or white if you don't have the cider version)
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 cloves of garlic, minced (I press the cloves with my handy-dandy garlic press)
black pepper to taste

I use about 3/4 of a pound of flank steak for a black and blue salad. Slice the meat into smallish pieces (approximately 1" pieces). Toss the meat and let marinate for about 15 minutes. Pour the meat and marinade into a non-stick skillet and cook on high heat for 5-10 minutes. The marinade caramelizes and give the meat and nice sticky coating. Very tasty.

I also had to share another beef recipe that I tried a few weeks ago. It too was very good and definitely a keeper! Thanks David and Edie!

Firehouse Roast
beef roast
meat tenderizer
flour
4 cans of Campbell's golden mushroom soup
2 packages of Lipton onion soup mix

Tenderize meat according to directions. I poked it all around with a fork and generously sprinkled Adolph's tenderizer - original unseasoned. Coat the entire roast with flour and brown it in a large skillet. Line a glass 9 x 13 baking dish with aluminum foil (I double lined mine). Place the browned roast on the foil. Sprinkle both packages of the onion soup mix on top of the roast. Spread the four cans of soup over the roast. Pour in one cup of water. Cover the top tightly with foil and bake for four hours in a 325* oven on the center rake. Do not open the foil during the four hours.

The golden mushroom soup and the onion soup mix make an awesome gravy for mashed potatoes!